Warning: That $500 laser level I bought for my framing crew was a total dud

I picked up a nice green beam rotary laser from a known brand at the big orange store last month for a basement job in Denver. It was supposed to be self-leveling and accurate within an eighth of an inch at 100 feet. First day on site, I set it up on a tripod and the beam kept drifting left every time the concrete saw kicked on. I spent a whole morning double checking my layout and ended up prying out a dozen studs that were off by almost an inch. The return was a hassle too, they only gave me store credit after I argued for 20 minutes. Has anyone else had issues with those self-leveling lasers shaking loose on job sites with heavy equipment running?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah_wells14d ago

Oh man, the "self-leveling" claim had me rolling my eyes so hard. I grabbed one of those green beam rotary lasers for a townhouse reno in Golden, and that thing would jump every time the compressor kicked on. I had my layout all set, then a guy with a concrete saw started up two units over, and my lines were off by a good half inch. I spent a whole Saturday ripping out furring strips I'd already nailed because I trusted the laser. Your story about the saw kicking it loose totally hits home, I think those auto-leveling mechanisms just aren't built for the kind of vibration you get on active job sites. Return policies are the worst too, I got a similar runaround and ended up just keeping the thing as a paperweight.

wendy_henderson2114d ago

@hannah_wells my Dewalt green beam has held up fine with vibration, honestly.

the_oliver14d ago

I had the exact same thing happen with a different brand on a basement job. The floor grinder two rooms over was enough to knock my calibration off by a solid quarter inch. What finally worked for me was just mounting the laser on a separate tripod away from any walls or floors that could transmit vibration. You might try wrapping the tripod legs in some rubber pipe insulation, @wendy_henderson21, to dampen things a bit. Those self-leveling gimmicks can't handle real site conditions, so you have to build in some isolation yourself.